£4.8M TO POUR INTO POTHOLES: Extra cash on way from Government

First published
in News
by Matt Oliver, Reporter covering North Oxford, Jericho and Summertown. Call me on 01865 425498

MORE potholes on Oxfordshire’s battered roads can now be filled in after the county was given a £4.7m emergency grant by the Government.

The Department for Transport yesterday announced Oxfordshire County Council would get a £4,782,149 emergency payment to help deal with damage caused by flooding and heavy rain over the winter.

The funding will come from £183.5m made available to councils across England and follows £200m being made available in the Budget for pothole repairs in 2014 and 2015.

Today the county’s political leaders will gather at County Hall from 10am to thrash out a response to Oxfordshire’s flooding problems.

The meeting will be attended by representatives of the Government, the Environment Agency, Thames Water and the county’s major councils to discuss ideas for action, including the Western Conveyance, a proposed £123m flood relief channel from Botley to Sandford.

County council leader Ian Hudspeth said the authority was pleasantly surprised by the £4.7m of extra funding.

Mr Hudspeth said: “This is very welcome news and we’re already working out how to get the best bang for our buck. People’s irritation with potholes is something we fully understand.

However, many of the roads have gone beyond the state where a simple repair and water ingress has resulted in fundamental weakening of the sub-structure.

London Road, for example, needs a complete dig-out and rebuild. Ideally, when the rebuild is planned, the relevant people should be mindful of the powerful torque from the wheels of the hybrid buses and London coaches that "move" and "bunch" the tarmac at bus-stops and traffic lights.

[quote][p][bold]wales01man[/bold] wrote:
How much does it cost to repair a Pothole ?[/p][/quote]Very little.
However, many of the roads have gone beyond the state where a simple repair and water ingress has resulted in fundamental weakening of the sub-structure.
London Road, for example, needs a complete dig-out and rebuild. Ideally, when the rebuild is planned, the relevant people should be mindful of the powerful torque from the wheels of the hybrid buses and London coaches that "move" and "bunch" the tarmac at bus-stops and traffic lights.Andrew:Oxford

However, many of the roads have gone beyond the state where a simple repair and water ingress has resulted in fundamental weakening of the sub-structure.

London Road, for example, needs a complete dig-out and rebuild. Ideally, when the rebuild is planned, the relevant people should be mindful of the powerful torque from the wheels of the hybrid buses and London coaches that &quot;move" and "bunch" the tarmac at bus-stops and traffic lights.

How much does it cost to tender for pothole repair?

I suspect the majority of that money will get tied up in bureaucracy rather than getting the job done.

[quote][p][bold]Andrew:Oxford[/bold] wrote:
[quote][p][bold]wales01man[/bold] wrote:
How much does it cost to repair a Pothole ?[/p][/quote]Very little.
However, many of the roads have gone beyond the state where a simple repair and water ingress has resulted in fundamental weakening of the sub-structure.
London Road, for example, needs a complete dig-out and rebuild. Ideally, when the rebuild is planned, the relevant people should be mindful of the powerful torque from the wheels of the hybrid buses and London coaches that "move" and "bunch" the tarmac at bus-stops and traffic lights.[/p][/quote]How much does it cost to tender for pothole repair?
I suspect the majority of that money will get tied up in bureaucracy rather than getting the job done.yabbadabbadoo256

Its good to hear more money is to be allocated for pot hole, and road repairs. However as we have all seen many of the 'repairs' to date simply come back out after a very short time. I and others will no doubt agree this is due to the hurried and inappropriate way the repairs are carried out. I am no expert but it seems obvious that proper cutting out, adequate priming, and compaction of the holes is not being done. Further it also appears that the process of sealing the edges of all repairs to prevent water ingress has now been discontinued, why is this, perhaps someone will explain. Its fine spending money on repairs but please make a good lasting job of it.

Its good to hear more money is to be allocated for pot hole, and road repairs. However as we have all seen many of the 'repairs' to date simply come back out after a very short time. I and others will no doubt agree this is due to the hurried and inappropriate way the repairs are carried out. I am no expert but it seems obvious that proper cutting out, adequate priming, and compaction of the holes is not being done. Further it also appears that the process of sealing the edges of all repairs to prevent water ingress has now been discontinued, why is this, perhaps someone will explain. Its fine spending money on repairs but please make a good lasting job of it.john mann

john mann wrote:
Its good to hear more money is to be allocated for pot hole, and road repairs. However as we have all seen many of the 'repairs' to date simply come back out after a very short time. I and others will no doubt agree this is due to the hurried and inappropriate way the repairs are carried out. I am no expert but it seems obvious that proper cutting out, adequate priming, and compaction of the holes is not being done. Further it also appears that the process of sealing the edges of all repairs to prevent water ingress has now been discontinued, why is this, perhaps someone will explain. Its fine spending money on repairs but please make a good lasting job of it.

Agree. It would be interesting to know how many times the same holes have been filled in, particularly along West End in Witney?

[quote][p][bold]john mann[/bold] wrote:
Its good to hear more money is to be allocated for pot hole, and road repairs. However as we have all seen many of the 'repairs' to date simply come back out after a very short time. I and others will no doubt agree this is due to the hurried and inappropriate way the repairs are carried out. I am no expert but it seems obvious that proper cutting out, adequate priming, and compaction of the holes is not being done. Further it also appears that the process of sealing the edges of all repairs to prevent water ingress has now been discontinued, why is this, perhaps someone will explain. Its fine spending money on repairs but please make a good lasting job of it.[/p][/quote]Agree. It would be interesting to know how many times the same holes have been filled in, particularly along West End in Witney?Mrs Arcanum

A survey last year by the asphalt industry said that the average cost to repair a pothole was about £52. Most authorities do cut out potholes (not sure what Oxfordshire dioes but most repairs I have seen look as if they use this method)now but sometimes will need to do a temporary fix for immediate safety reasons. The reason most authorities no longer do the tar seal around the edges is that there was a spate of accidents of cyclists and motor cyclists who'se wheels tend to skid severely on the seals although repairs are doen that extends the patch beyond the edges of the hole to similalrly seal it from water.

[quote][p][bold]wales01man[/bold] wrote:
How much does it cost to repair a Pothole ?[/p][/quote]A survey last year by the asphalt industry said that the average cost to repair a pothole was about £52. Most authorities do cut out potholes (not sure what Oxfordshire dioes but most repairs I have seen look as if they use this method)now but sometimes will need to do a temporary fix for immediate safety reasons. The reason most authorities no longer do the tar seal around the edges is that there was a spate of accidents of cyclists and motor cyclists who'se wheels tend to skid severely on the seals although repairs are doen that extends the patch beyond the edges of the hole to similalrly seal it from water.couldabeenacontender

A survey last year by the asphalt industry said that the average cost to repair a pothole was about £52. Most authorities do cut out potholes (not sure what Oxfordshire dioes but most repairs I have seen look as if they use this method)now but sometimes will need to do a temporary fix for immediate safety reasons. The reason most authorities no longer do the tar seal around the edges is that there was a spate of accidents of cyclists and motor cyclists who'se wheels tend to skid severely on the seals although repairs are doen that extends the patch beyond the edges of the hole to similalrly seal it from water.

Yes as a previous rider of motor bikes for many years myself I did read some years ago of accidents to bikers resulting from the excessive sealing of multiple cracks in roads on bends. However surely some common sense could be used with regard to sealing pot hole repairs, using just a narrow band of seal, and giving consideration to the position of the repair on the road. Most pot holes are fairly small in area and isolated, I am not talking of multiple cracks on a bend, unless there is a lot of sealer used the risk to 2 wheel traffic would be minimal. This risk I think would be considerably less than if the pot hole was not repaired or even repaired badly. Or even for that matter the risk from a painted road marking. I can only assume that Local Authorities have discontinued the edge sealing on the grounds of possible litigation. Perhaps they could review this policy with some more up to date common sense thinking, and consider the advance in materials now available compared to years ago.

[quote][p][bold]couldabeenacontender[/bold] wrote:
[quote][p][bold]wales01man[/bold] wrote:
How much does it cost to repair a Pothole ?[/p][/quote]A survey last year by the asphalt industry said that the average cost to repair a pothole was about £52. Most authorities do cut out potholes (not sure what Oxfordshire dioes but most repairs I have seen look as if they use this method)now but sometimes will need to do a temporary fix for immediate safety reasons. The reason most authorities no longer do the tar seal around the edges is that there was a spate of accidents of cyclists and motor cyclists who'se wheels tend to skid severely on the seals although repairs are doen that extends the patch beyond the edges of the hole to similalrly seal it from water.[/p][/quote]Yes as a previous rider of motor bikes for many years myself I did read some years ago of accidents to bikers resulting from the excessive sealing of multiple cracks in roads on bends. However surely some common sense could be used with regard to sealing pot hole repairs, using just a narrow band of seal, and giving consideration to the position of the repair on the road. Most pot holes are fairly small in area and isolated, I am not talking of multiple cracks on a bend, unless there is a lot of sealer used the risk to 2 wheel traffic would be minimal. This risk I think would be considerably less than if the pot hole was not repaired or even repaired badly. Or even for that matter the risk from a painted road marking. I can only assume that Local Authorities have discontinued the edge sealing on the grounds of possible litigation. Perhaps they could review this policy with some more up to date common sense thinking, and consider the advance in materials now available compared to years ago.john mann

In the news yesterday a Cyclist was awarded 70k damages for injuries caused by a pothole 52 quid into 70 k is a lot of potholes is the council so lax that they think another accident this time in this area may cost them?

In the news yesterday a Cyclist was awarded 70k damages for injuries caused by a pothole 52 quid into 70 k is a lot of potholes is the council so lax that they think another accident this time in this area may cost them?wales01man

Putting £4.8 million aside for repairs is one thing but without the manpower to go out and do the work, the time to fix will still be quite a long one.

It never ceases to amaze me ho wmany people moan about potholes and the state of the roads, and when I pointedly ask whether they have complained about it or made the council aware of it, absolutely everyone with only one exception, said they hadn't done anything.

Most had written to the council, which is fine if you write to the correct department. People still don't use the website called fixmystreet. All you need to do is to go there, click to submit a report and click on the map where the issue is and then choose from the list of problems and give a description. The website will then send an email with all the data you gae, plus a map and it will go to the correct council that is in charge of that particular spot chosen on the map. It really is easy. You don't even need to register although it is better if you can because then the council can contact you.

I use this all the time and it is quick and gets results.

Putting £4.8 million aside for repairs is one thing but without the manpower to go out and do the work, the time to fix will still be quite a long one.
It never ceases to amaze me ho wmany people moan about potholes and the state of the roads, and when I pointedly ask whether they have complained about it or made the council aware of it, absolutely everyone with only one exception, said they hadn't done anything.
Most had written to the council, which is fine if you write to the correct department. People still don't use the website called fixmystreet. All you need to do is to go there, click to submit a report and click on the map where the issue is and then choose from the list of problems and give a description. The website will then send an email with all the data you gae, plus a map and it will go to the correct council that is in charge of that particular spot chosen on the map. It really is easy. You don't even need to register although it is better if you can because then the council can contact you.
I use this all the time and it is quick and gets results.snert

It should not be up to residents and road users to report potholes. There are enough council employees travelling on the roads every day and they should be given an easy means of reporting the issues. It wouldn't be difficult to get a single person to drive around once a week finding and reporting issues too. Pushing the job onto everyone will not get the job done and only frustrate people who are busy and pay their taxes for the council to look after the roads.

There is a pot hole telephone line, I've tried it and it's pretty useless. You need to be able to give the location of the hole, the size of the whole etc. I'm not walking into the road with a tape measure to measure a pot hole. If I am to report it then all the council should need is a rough location and then just send someone out to check it out.

It wouldn't surprise me if the roads in Cowley, such as Oliver Road, Hollow Way etc, the ones with big potholes in, continue to get neglected. The snow and ice has made things worse but those issues have been there for years now.

There's an added issue here and the council is lucky it's not being reported:

Every time a vehicle goes over a pot hole, or even a dip in the road where a pot hole has been filled in but not compacted and refilled until it's level, any water caught in the dip or hole splashes out to the sides and hits walls along the road.

It's very straight forward to spot, you can see the hole and you'll see erosion to a wall next to it.

Hollow Way is a good example. One pot hole there has been filled in countless times. Last year the water from the hole was constantly being flung at a brick wall side of a garage across from Hollow Way Autoparts. Then the water on the wall froze and started pushing the cement out of the wall and damaging the wall. The wall at one point was covered in ice. I attempted to report the hole (as did others) but found the person on the other end to be unhelpful, they needed way too much info. If the council wants people to report things it has to be as easy as possible, otherwise it's pointless. The hole was filled in, again, but now there's a dip in the road still.

It should not be up to residents and road users to report potholes. There are enough council employees travelling on the roads every day and they should be given an easy means of reporting the issues. It wouldn't be difficult to get a single person to drive around once a week finding and reporting issues too. Pushing the job onto everyone will not get the job done and only frustrate people who are busy and pay their taxes for the council to look after the roads.
There is a pot hole telephone line, I've tried it and it's pretty useless. You need to be able to give the location of the hole, the size of the whole etc. I'm not walking into the road with a tape measure to measure a pot hole. If I am to report it then all the council should need is a rough location and then just send someone out to check it out.
It wouldn't surprise me if the roads in Cowley, such as Oliver Road, Hollow Way etc, the ones with big potholes in, continue to get neglected. The snow and ice has made things worse but those issues have been there for years now.
There's an added issue here and the council is lucky it's not being reported:
Every time a vehicle goes over a pot hole, or even a dip in the road where a pot hole has been filled in but not compacted and refilled until it's level, any water caught in the dip or hole splashes out to the sides and hits walls along the road.
It's very straight forward to spot, you can see the hole and you'll see erosion to a wall next to it.
Hollow Way is a good example. One pot hole there has been filled in countless times. Last year the water from the hole was constantly being flung at a brick wall side of a garage across from Hollow Way Autoparts. Then the water on the wall froze and started pushing the cement out of the wall and damaging the wall. The wall at one point was covered in ice. I attempted to report the hole (as did others) but found the person on the other end to be unhelpful, they needed way too much info. If the council wants people to report things it has to be as easy as possible, otherwise it's pointless. The hole was filled in, again, but now there's a dip in the road still.Geoff Roberts

The whole thing could be done as part of the refuse collection service. 1 person from each bin lorry just needs to keep an eye out, then it's a quick job to take a photo, grab coordinates using an app and send it to a mailbox to be picked up and logged for tracking. There would be more work to begin with but once the system is up and running the number of jobs to report will drop off quickly.

The whole thing could be done as part of the refuse collection service. 1 person from each bin lorry just needs to keep an eye out, then it's a quick job to take a photo, grab coordinates using an app and send it to a mailbox to be picked up and logged for tracking. There would be more work to begin with but once the system is up and running the number of jobs to report will drop off quickly.Geoff Roberts

Another issue is ownership. One of the first things the council will do on reporting a pot hole is attempt to pass the issue onto another organisation such as Thames Water. The issue may then go backwards and forwards or not get dealt with at all.

Another issue is ownership. One of the first things the council will do on reporting a pot hole is attempt to pass the issue onto another organisation such as Thames Water. The issue may then go backwards and forwards or not get dealt with at all.Geoff Roberts

Geoff you got it in one lets extend it to having councillors County District and TOWN reporting potholes do something for there money instead of talking in a council chamber .
As for the suggestion of reporting online ! Iwould wear the keyboard out with the number of reports I could make

Geoff you got it in one lets extend it to having councillors County District and TOWN reporting potholes do something for there money instead of talking in a council chamber .
As for the suggestion of reporting online ! Iwould wear the keyboard out with the number of reports I could makewales01man

If it was my decision I'd send two-man crews out on a lorry with all the necessary tools and tarmac. They would each have an area to patrol and fill any potholes they came across.
I see that some of the holes on London Road in Headington and in Wheatley have been filled and others left. Don't know why they bothered as both roads are like a ploughed field and need sorting properly (as do many others). I was beginning to think that the lack of tar around the edges of a newly patched hole was probably more likely a health and safety issue due to yet more interference from Brussels but reading earlier comments then maybe not

If it was my decision I'd send two-man crews out on a lorry with all the necessary tools and tarmac. They would each have an area to patrol and fill any potholes they came across.
I see that some of the holes on London Road in Headington and in Wheatley have been filled and others left. Don't know why they bothered as both roads are like a ploughed field and need sorting properly (as do many others). I was beginning to think that the lack of tar around the edges of a newly patched hole was probably more likely a health and safety issue due to yet more interference from Brussels but reading earlier comments then maybe notMajor Rhode-Werks

Potholes are a scam to transfer public money to private pockets of friendly contractors - it's called privatisation. In countries with low levels of corruption like Germany or Scandinavia they simply build proper roads so there is little need to make repairs later.

Potholes are a scam to transfer public money to private pockets of friendly contractors - it's called privatisation. In countries with low levels of corruption like Germany or Scandinavia they simply build proper roads so there is little need to make repairs later.train passenger

The problem is, when they repair pot holes, they do a half-arsed job.
There's a hole on the main road outside my flat, that's been repaired 3 times in the past 5 years, and has been marked up for repair again, for the past 18 months or so.
If they had fixed it properly the first time....., could've saved a fortune on materials and labour.

The problem is, when they repair pot holes, they do a half-arsed job.
There's a hole on the main road outside my flat, that's been repaired 3 times in the past 5 years, and has been marked up for repair again, for the past 18 months or so.
If they had fixed it properly the first time....., could've saved a fortune on materials and labour.Dilligaf2010

Geoff Roberts wrote:
It should not be up to residents and road users to report potholes. There are enough council employees travelling on the roads every day and they should be given an easy means of reporting the issues. It wouldn't be difficult to get a single person to drive around once a week finding and reporting issues too. Pushing the job onto everyone will not get the job done and only frustrate people who are busy and pay their taxes for the council to look after the roads.

There is a pot hole telephone line, I've tried it and it's pretty useless. You need to be able to give the location of the hole, the size of the whole etc. I'm not walking into the road with a tape measure to measure a pot hole. If I am to report it then all the council should need is a rough location and then just send someone out to check it out.

It wouldn't surprise me if the roads in Cowley, such as Oliver Road, Hollow Way etc, the ones with big potholes in, continue to get neglected. The snow and ice has made things worse but those issues have been there for years now.

There's an added issue here and the council is lucky it's not being reported:

Every time a vehicle goes over a pot hole, or even a dip in the road where a pot hole has been filled in but not compacted and refilled until it's level, any water caught in the dip or hole splashes out to the sides and hits walls along the road.

It's very straight forward to spot, you can see the hole and you'll see erosion to a wall next to it.

Hollow Way is a good example. One pot hole there has been filled in countless times. Last year the water from the hole was constantly being flung at a brick wall side of a garage across from Hollow Way Autoparts. Then the water on the wall froze and started pushing the cement out of the wall and damaging the wall. The wall at one point was covered in ice. I attempted to report the hole (as did others) but found the person on the other end to be unhelpful, they needed way too much info. If the council wants people to report things it has to be as easy as possible, otherwise it's pointless. The hole was filled in, again, but now there's a dip in the road still.

What utter nonsense Geoff

It is the responsibility and duty of every civic minded citizen to take a few moments to pick up their mobile and call the council to report a defect that could prove damaging or injurious. Or if they have a semi-decent mobile go onto the council website and report it.

It doesn't take long and there is no expectation for you to give exact measurements!

You've previously explained in the comments that you like to film commuters in their cars... You could always use the same equipmeint to film the problem sections and email the council an mpeg...

[quote][p][bold]Geoff Roberts[/bold] wrote:
It should not be up to residents and road users to report potholes. There are enough council employees travelling on the roads every day and they should be given an easy means of reporting the issues. It wouldn't be difficult to get a single person to drive around once a week finding and reporting issues too. Pushing the job onto everyone will not get the job done and only frustrate people who are busy and pay their taxes for the council to look after the roads.
There is a pot hole telephone line, I've tried it and it's pretty useless. You need to be able to give the location of the hole, the size of the whole etc. I'm not walking into the road with a tape measure to measure a pot hole. If I am to report it then all the council should need is a rough location and then just send someone out to check it out.
It wouldn't surprise me if the roads in Cowley, such as Oliver Road, Hollow Way etc, the ones with big potholes in, continue to get neglected. The snow and ice has made things worse but those issues have been there for years now.
There's an added issue here and the council is lucky it's not being reported:
Every time a vehicle goes over a pot hole, or even a dip in the road where a pot hole has been filled in but not compacted and refilled until it's level, any water caught in the dip or hole splashes out to the sides and hits walls along the road.
It's very straight forward to spot, you can see the hole and you'll see erosion to a wall next to it.
Hollow Way is a good example. One pot hole there has been filled in countless times. Last year the water from the hole was constantly being flung at a brick wall side of a garage across from Hollow Way Autoparts. Then the water on the wall froze and started pushing the cement out of the wall and damaging the wall. The wall at one point was covered in ice. I attempted to report the hole (as did others) but found the person on the other end to be unhelpful, they needed way too much info. If the council wants people to report things it has to be as easy as possible, otherwise it's pointless. The hole was filled in, again, but now there's a dip in the road still.[/p][/quote]What utter nonsense Geoff
It is the responsibility and duty of every civic minded citizen to take a few moments to pick up their mobile and call the council to report a defect that could prove damaging or injurious. Or if they have a semi-decent mobile go onto the council website and report it.
It doesn't take long and there is no expectation for you to give exact measurements!
You've previously explained in the comments that you like to film commuters in their cars... You could always use the same equipmeint to film the problem sections and email the council an mpeg...Andrew:Oxford

Andrewoxford
Shall we all do the The Councils work for them so they can carry on doing as little as possible I have no doubt that most notifications to them about pot homes are ignored.
Instead of someone going round forever spraying lines round holes get them on a lorry and repair the roads to many looking at the job to few doing it.

Andrewoxford
Shall we all do the The Councils work for them so they can carry on doing as little as possible I have no doubt that most notifications to them about pot homes are ignored.
Instead of someone going round forever spraying lines round holes get them on a lorry and repair the roads to many looking at the job to few doing it.wales01man